Defiant 'til the End
by ciel blackblood
Summary: He had finished his challenge. He had lived. He had died. He had loved. Some would say that it is time for him to rest - his adventure was done. To those people, he would say: "The adventure is not over. It has just begun.". His journey in another was done, but his legend in his own home had just been written.


10 years.

10 wonderful, bloody, degrading, mind-crushing, violating, uplifting and ultimately victorious years. After going through the entire spectrum of human morality and preconceived notions of Good, Evil and Neutrality, they had done it. _He_ finally did it.

Even as the ruined world around him was bathed in various shades of white and gray, fading to immateriality within the light of annihilation that was the final act of the **[LAST EMBRYO - AIN SOPH AUR: THE TIME FOR THE END HAS COME, HE IS WHO CREATES ALL]**, his tear-stricken, empty void for eyes slowly closed as his burnt, cracked face smiled sadly.

_'In the end, we had won. Victory was ours - no... it was mine. Victory was mine, for there is no one else to share it with. Even after all our struggles we had won but not before humanity had become extinct. How, sad. How... despairing.'_

He wanted to laugh at the irony of it all. They had started this war against the invader, the parasite, **[THE WARRIOR]**, to prevent the extinction of human lives and the destruction of 132,256,235,964,999 variations of earth but now, all but 5,000 of those worlds they wished to protect perished. He wanted to laugh at the tragedy of it all for what could they call this but a Pyrrhic Victory?

_'I'm sorry, Sis. I couldn't make it back... but you don't have to worry. I made friends here - wonderful friends who were there for me and wouldn't hesitate to pull me back from hell. I made comrades, people who would stand by my side until the end. I had family - sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, people who were with me through thick and thin. I'm going to join them now.'_

The world began to shatter. The boundaries that separated 132,256,235,964,999 worlds began to burn as the light of **[LAST EMBRYO]** \- the completion of creation and destruction, destroyed and remade the wounds in realities that connected each world to one another. His body began to disappear under the light of the end.

The deal was fulfilled. The Devil will get their due as per their contract but he would not - _did not want to(?)_ \- survive. The Devil had what it wanted now, and though it might mean incomprehensible horrors, a multiversal apocalypse - no one would know, with his destruction.

He was tired. Oh, so very tired. His body, invincible and ever-victorious it once was, could no longer move. The endless might that it once wielded was no more; not even a single grain of power could be found within his figure.

He must survive. He wanted to die. He must live. But living was painful. Victory was his as it always had been. His death was glorious, one that the remaining 5,000 worlds would immortalize in unfading legend. His friends... were they calling him? Was it time? He could hear them now. It was getting harder to breathe. His wounds had stopped bleeding for there was no more blood to leak. His regeneration that once immortalized him within the minds of all he fought with could no longer help preserve his life.

In the end... it no longer mattered.

It was done. His mission, his purpose... it was done.

He could not help but remember the last lines his friend_/sister/daughter/__**lover**_ had uttered. The paragon who stood unyielding before the **[THE WARRIOR]** and lost in her victory. He echoed her sentiments, her regrets in his last moments and couldn't help but agree with her now.

"Truly... in the eyes of the infinite, we are so very, very... small..."

Then the world was replaced by undying light.

**-()-**

He started.

A sharp sting pierced the back of his eyes as indistinct information flooded his mind. Once again, the heady feeling of bottomless, endless, controlled might filled his body. Euphoria, a familiar feeling he had experienced in the early days of his conquest in another world flooded throughout his form.

But how? He had died.

Hurriedly, he checked within himself and was brought to the familiar plane that housed his partner.

Inky waters, undulated softly as their vantablack color devoured all light and made it seem as if he were on top of liquid shadow. He stood over its rolling waves unbothered by their movement nor by the fact that he was miraculously standing over a body of liquid as if it were solid ground. He stared towards the horizon - where midnight blues and purples and reds and yellows met with black - decorated with unfamiliar stars and constellations, over shadowed trees of flesh that had fog for leaves, beyond strange figures that danced beneath the waves and between fleshy branches.

He ignored them all and stared into the blood red moon that commanded the stars above. It was a moon but not a moon, for no celestial body had feelers nor tentacles that writhed in mind-crushing ways and held the skies and earth together. He was unaware of any that might compare to what hung in the skies before him for he was sure, nothing existed like it. It was an eye yet not an eye for no eye could be made of crystal not known to man or earth nor would it possess angles that rendered those who see it paralyzed and bleeding due to their sheer impossibility.

**[OPERATION][RESTORED]**

**[JOY]**

**[RETURN][RULER]**

A joyful smile presented itself on his lips as concepts resonated within his soul. He stared upon the moon that was not a moon with adoration for he had felt its joy upon his return. Affection was visible upon his countenance as this was his partner; the pillar upon which he had leaned on, the rock that supported his every step. How could he not be happy to see that this **[SHARD]** that had become so much more than it should be was still with him?

He opened his eyes and his sight was restored. He looked around the endless white expanse and saw nothing. No light, nor shadow - Nothingness greeted him with a familiar air. Satisfied with his examination, he looked up.

_'Ah, there he is.'_

There he was, The Serpent in the Garden. The Key and The Gate. The Lurker at the Threshold. The Foreigner. The Entity. The Devil.

**[ABADDON]**

Static exploded from within his vision covering everything in his sight in the disconnected colors of the kaleidoscope with enough force to destroy a thousand stars. He endured the painful sensations of being stabbed by an unlimited amount of blades and the heat of a million exploding suns. He endured, never taking his eyes away from the Entity even as his heart and mind raced.

Hope. Despair. Love. Want. Desire. Ambition. Greed. Enmity. Hatred. Determination. Will. Grief. Rage. Fear.

He lived. From an uncountable number of souls that accompanied him in his journey, only he had lived - somehow. And that journey, that roller-coaster of a life of adventure started here, at this very spot with this very posture. The static cleared, and concepts that bombarded his soul with a message was finally recognizable with a human mind.

"You won. The **[RITE OF USURPATION]** has been completed by your own hands. The **[QUEST]** has ended."

The Key and The Gate, as an existence that was beyond even his, admittedly, inhuman cognition, was a concept personified. HE was Nothingness, an infinite void that looked like a scar upon space to his eyes. A Black Hole, a sentient perpetual creature that desired nothing but to devour all in creation endlessly. It was a creature that was filled with endless **[WANT]**.

"20 **[ORIGINS]** that belonged to the **[THINKER]**'s **[CONFLICT][ENGINE]**. The corpses of the **[THINKER]** and the** [THE WARRIOR]** with most of their most vital shards intact. Impressive!"

The bridge of his nose wrinkled in disgust as he understood the wanton **[WANT]** in The Devil's projected voice. For an existence such as it, similar existences would no doubt be valuable as intact corpses. After all, they who lived in untold eons before humanity cannibalized their deceased counterparts for knowledge. For power.

It was abhorrent. It was disgusting. It's unparalleled desire truly made it live up to its title as The Devil. It was no less than a **[BEAST]**. The Entity could not smile, but he nonetheless heard it. This being that was so infinitely close to understanding **[HUMANITY] **in its entirety moaned rapturously at its prizes.

"With the format of your **[SPECIES]** game, you have 42 unused points. How** [WANT]**, that you managed to grasp victory with only your starting **[SHARD]**. Well, you did **[CHOICE]** the most **[DEATH]** possible for your **[CHALLENGE]**."

His **[SHARD]**, his oldest and greatest ally, spoke back to him and the Devil.

**[GRATITUDE][HONOR][VINDICATION][TRIUMPH][VICTORY]**

The Devil's 'smile' widened.

"An apt **[DESIGNATION]**. For such a brilliant **[SHARD]** and **[HOST]**, you have earned this **[FRAGMENT]** of my own** [ANSWER]**..."

Then, with the gravitas of a King of All Kings, the Serpent in The Garden SPOKE.

YOU ARE _**[THE VICTOR]**_

"When one looks into your adventures as I have, it is a fitting **[NAME]** don't you think? Now, before you go ahead and enjoy the **[GIFT]** I have given you, you have **[USURPED]** enough power to grant your **[SHARD]** an **[AUTHORITY]** rather than mere **[CROWNS]** and** [PHANTASMS]**."

Knowledge bloomed from within his mind and he did not need to think to know what it was. The knowledge of its existence is as familiar to him as his own body and thus there was no rejection when its foreign and eldritch elements seeped into his mind and soul.

"Choose, as one of my favored **[CHOSEN]**, I grant you the privilege of these **[AUTHORITIES]**. Name it and it shall be yours."

He saw them, the possibilities that led off from the Entity's **[ANSWER]**; the infinite choices that would be his for the taking. Any other man may perhaps feel elated at the chance to grant themselves more power, yet all he could feel at this moment was the same emotions he had felt when he was first granted this same choice at the start of his **[QUEST]**.

All he could feel, was Dread and Horror.

What manner of being could grant such incredible powers to those it had merely deemed _Interesting_? What sort of creature would deem it just to hand out unlimited power such as this? No, there was no point to these questions. He had already grasped the answer the first time he met this **[FOREIGNER]**.

He smiled in powerless mirth. Truly, this was a creature that was an enemy to humanity. For as close as it was to understanding Humanity, it would forever be infinitely different to them. In the end, he paid it no mind - no more than idle curiosity - as he carefully considered his options. Tightly, within his chest, he held the fragile hope that led him to this adventure.

He grimaced as the memory of his greatest failure seared into his mind. The chime of bells filled his ears just as well as the screams and screeches that came after it. A regret that had been his constant motivation to live.

Maybe... maybe now, he could finally correct his mistake.

He chose carefully, using all his significant strength to grant him the power to choose wisely and in the end... he had grasped his **[AUTHORITY]**.

The Serpent in the Garden. The Key and The Gate. The Lurker at the Threshold. The Foreigner. The Entity. The Devil... **[ABADDON] **'smiled'.

"**[AGREEMENT]**. You had given me much and now, our contract is **[COMPLETE]**. Now, I bid you **[FAREWELL]**."

Light was devoured by the Devil's ever-present want, and darkness, was all that remained.

**-()-**

When he woke up, his eyes beheld the familiar ceiling of a broken home. He was truly back, and his breath stopped short as this realization fully permeated his weary mind. Lifting his right arm before him, he clenched his fist as he savored his unlimited might.

He was back. He came home with ALL OF HIS **[TREASURES]**.

Hurriedly, he rocketed to his feet and left the silent apartment that he had been living alone in for 3 years. He stepped on the railing that directly faced the street, and leapt onto the roof of the building in front of him. It was then he ran with incredible speed - breaching the Third Cosmic Velocity as he could not waste anymore time.

In an instant, he arrived at his destination and jumped up to the third floor, to a room that he sadly knew by heart. A room that contained what could only be called his greatest treasure. Heart beating wildly in his chest, he opened the window and the cold night wind blew in disturbing the once silent room.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

He swallowed a lump in his throat as he beheld the figure partially obscured by the fluttering white curtains. Even now, hooked up to various machines that monitored her health, she was as beautiful as ever. She may be a tad bit paler than he remembered, but that could be excused as him not recalling her image accurately. After all, while in his home reality, no time had passed, he had personally experienced over ten years of hardship, drama, adventure, and even love in that world he was sent to.

Softly, he approached her with cautious steps, as if afraid he would wake her restful sleep should he make the slightest noise, but he knew that was not meant to be. Even if he were louder, his precious sister would not wake.

She had already been asleep for five years.

Tears blurred his eyes as he remembered the doctors saying that the longer a patient slept in a coma, the lesser the chances that they would ever wake up. He remembered the despair he felt and the losing sense of hope as the months and years had gone by and his beloved sister remained asleep. Constantly, he had blamed himself for his sister's state - berating himself as he knew... had he not crossed the street thoughtlessly at that time, his sister, would not have needed to jump in the way of the truck that would have trampled him.

"H-hey, sis... I'm back."

He whispered hoarsely in an effort to avoid disturbing the serenity of the moment. How many times did he dream of this moment? How many times had he thought of brushing her silky black locks as he had done right now? He didn't know but he was glad, overjoyed, that he could finally do it again. He could finally atone for his sin.

Even after all that he had experienced, he could not help but shudder in apprehension. What if this failed? What would he do should this not work? He didn't know. His doubts paralyzed him. His grief burned him. His hopes pushed him.

**[UNION]**

His faithful companion, thrummed from within his soul. Its message so clear, his heart was put at ease. _I am with you. Always._

"Don't worry. I will make everything right."

Lightly, he brushed his lips upon her brow. Brilliant golden light shone from behind him as a ripple-like portal formed in mid-air. He raised his hand, and from that portal, he gently pulled a richly decorated crystal vial with gold and jewel embellishments from his **[INFINITE TREASURY]**. As though he were performing a delicate ritual, he opened the vial and it released a sweet scent akin to warm kotatsu in a chilly winter night and left over mandarin peels and nostalgic laughter.

Then, he fulfilled the one dream that kept him sane and alive in the past ten years.

Tipping the Panacea into his mouth he leaned towards her sleeping form and kissed her.

**-()-**

With a sigh, he looked up the night sky. He watched the stars and enjoyed the breeze upon his face in silence. Moving towards the only bench in the hospital's garden, he sat down and almost cried in relief now that a part of his burden is gone.

In the coming morning, he knew that there would be questions. They would call this a miracle as his beloved sister would wake up without any sign that she had been in a five year long sleep. Perhaps, if he were paranoid enough, he would have thought that the government would be involved.

He snorted at that thought. He and his sister were not important enough that their country's government would take notice of them. It wouldn't matter though.

_She would awaken and live_.

That was enough.

He watched the stars above him, knowing without uncertainty nor doubt, that they were not alone in this wide, wide Universe. Their world, Earth, was truly so small. When he had been chosen to participate in The Lurker at the Threshold's **[QUEST]**, he had bitten into the Forbidden Knowledge.

In that, there was no going back. Humanity was not alone, and they are so very, very unprepared for what was out there. There were Entities like those he had encountered that could exist in the vast planes of the cosmos hilariously overpowered, exponentially growing, and vastly malicious to all others - even to their own kin.

He also knew that even the **[THINKER]**,** [THE WARRIOR]**, and** [THE FOREIGNER]** had things they fear. For all the Entities' power, they were not the most powerful things out there. Truly, humanity was hilariously, hopelessly, outgunned.

A sardonic laugh escaped his lips at that thought as he could not help but remember an old movie where he had heard that line from. He could even see some parallels that that movie had with his reality. But even beyond that...

He knew what it meant to wake up in that hospital bedroom, alone. It was the reason why he was utilizing a variety of tinkertech stealth devices to keep himself hidden from the hospital cameras and the security's eyes. He didn't want his sister to wake up confused and alone. After all...

Loneliness is the most painful thing of all.

His payoff had succeeded. His challenge was complete. His contract had stated that should he complete all the stipulations on his goals, he would retain everything. He had done just that. He had retained his limitless power, making him the most powerful man on Earth and maybe to the few other realities over in this part of the Multiverse. He had retained his incalculable wealth all stored within his **[INFINITE TREASURY]**. Impossible magical and scientific weapons, armor, gadgets, fantastical potions and herbs, the finest of food and drink, the most beautiful of art and sculptures, the best fashion past, present and future, gold, silver, platinum, diamonds and other sorts of jewels in all manners of cuts and shapes - should he empty his vaults, not even this whole Solar System would be able to contain all his treasures.

It was a hoard worthy of the Gods.

But now, he was alone. His comrades from a vast alliance of realities were gone. He had lost everyone he had cared for from that side. His payoff stated that he could have brought his loved ones with him back to this reality, provided that they were still alive. None of them - his friends, his lovers, his sons, his daugthers, his family... all of them were gone.

And now he was alone.

"The stars are quite bright tonight."

He looked up to the stars, never noticing the tears that flowed down his cheeks.

In the eyes of the Infinite, we are so very, very small. Defeat in Victory, he understood it now.

**-()-**

Humming filled the room even as the constant steady beep of the heart monitor entered his ears. It was a nostalgic tune, one that he hadn't heard in so long. He stood outside the door with his hand placed on the doorknob, paralyzed with eyes wide open. Slowly, as though he were afraid it were an illusion, he slid the portal open only to see a fantasy he never thought would come true.

It was like a scene straight from the movies. Brilliant golden light from the early rising sun bathed the room in a soft glow that made it seem as though he was in a dream. White curtains fluttered with the breeze from the window he had left open. There, his most precious treasure sat upright, her blanket pooling on her lap as silken strands of black lightly danced to the breeze. Her humming stopped and she turned her brilliant amethyst eyes to him. He heard a gasp behind him but he paid it no mind. He saw her eyes widen just as he felt his wet. Slowly, still disbelieving this moment in time, he approached her with an outstretched hand.

Palm met cheek as the most important person in his life held his hand towards their teary, joyful face.

"How long was I asleep for?" she asked with a melodic voice he had not heard in years.

"F-five years."

"It has been quite the long time then?"

He nodded, trying to hold back his tears. His eyes were drawn to the scar on her hand, the visible proof of his sin and he knew that it was not the only one. Guilt and relief tore at his heart and he bit his cheek to choke back the sob that wanted to escape his throat.

"How are you? Are you doing okay?"

"Y-yeah... I'm fine."

His hands shook as emotions flooded his heart.

"Did you eat your vegetables? Did you brush your teeth properly?"

He nodded, silent as he stared into the soft amethyst orbs that he had scarcely remembered.

"... You kept your promise," a small smile settled on her beautiful face as she took in his various changes. "I don't regret what I did that day, and I will do it again and again for you... but to endure all these lonely years... my little brother, it must've been difficult."

Time stood still, his mind running in unheard of speeds trying its best to immortalize this moment within his memories. The dam withholding his emotions broke as copious tears flowed from his eyes; it was like an arrow piercing his heart as he could not help but release all the burdens in his chest. He ignored the various medical personnel rushing into the room trying to get to his sister. They did not exist in his mind. All that mattered was this young lady in front of him.

All of his relief, all of his grief, all of guilt, he showed them all to his sister as his tears dripped towards the white tiled floor.

"Yeah."

**-()-**

They called it a miracle - an unprecedented phenomena. For a 19 year old woman to awaken after a five year long coma in perfect health and suffering no atrophies in their musculature, even in their wild, weird world, none can compare to this. They tried to hold his sister back for as long as possible to study her, but as she was the very picture of perfect health and that she did not desire to stay for a minute longer, they had no choice but to acquiesce.

Just as well, if they had continued to insist, well... at least Japan would have a new tourist spot they could use. It would've been the counterpart to America's Grand Canyon. It was good to see that there were still sensible people in the world.

Gently, he pushed his sister's wheelchair out of the hospital doors. He glared at all those who dared to gawk at his sister as though willing them to spontaneously combust. Not that he could blame them though. His sister was young and at the prime of her life; she was beautiful.

Dressed as she was in an, admittedly, conservative sleeveless sundress that he had secretly withdrawn from his **[INFINITE TREASURY]**, it nonetheless failed to hide her prodigious figure from leering eyes. Protecting her from the sun's rays was a wide-brimmed hat with a blue band that shadowed her face but not her bright amethyst orbs - all in all, she looked the part of a frail, but ideal beauty.

He would have cursed, had he not been proud of her beauty. He heard a giggle and he looked down to see his precious sibling looking up to him with a mirthful smile. He lost his glare as he playfully stuck out his tongue.

Pushing her wheelchair out of the hospital premises, they stopped by their new car, and his sister blinked in astonishment. Opening the front passenger door, he could not help but preen slightly. After all, this car was not one that could be purchased by anyone. This vehicle was one that he had made with his own two hands back in that other world and it was something that many of his former comrades and subjects would look at in exasperation.

Glossy black with a form reminiscent of a fighter jet with soft elegant curves like that of a jungle cat, this was his baby. Though looking back on it now - remembering all the little features and gadgets he had tried to fit into it - he might have spent too much time on his car.

... Maybe that would explain all the looks and sighs he would get from his friends.

Shaking his head, he carefully assisted his sister to the front seat and hurriedly returned the wheelchair back to the hospital. He didn't want to leave her for too long. Slipping into the driver's seat, he entered the coordinates to their apartment and the car's VI used the satellite uplink to plan out their route. He leaned back into his seat as the car drove itself out of the parking area like the world's greatest chauffeur.

"Little brother," his sister called out with a confused tilt of her head. "Since when did we have such a futuristic car?"

He smiled wryly as he took her hand and held it in his own.

"Since just now, sis."

"Y-you didn't do anything bad to get it do you?"

He laughed at her horrified expression, and laughed some more as she started to pout.

He could understand her concern though as they have never been financially well. Their parents died when he was seven and his sister was eleven years old. Since then they had kept moving from house to house as their relatives kept pushing them towards their other relatives. The person they were staying with now, an aunt from their mother's side of the family, technically did not live with them as she had merely given them an apartment they could live at and moved to another place. He and his sister had been living in that apartment for over 8 years now, and lived by receiving some scarce amount of money from said aunt and the various part-time jobs that his sister used to do before it fell onto him to do so.

"No, no. I didn't do anything illegal here to get this baby, sis."

"Promise?" she asked with a teary pout that he found cute.

He nodded lightly as he reached to his back and opened the mini-fridge to his sister's stunned eyes, grabbed two chilled bottles without looking then closed the fridge as he flicked his thumb and opened the bottles and presented one of them to her.

Wide-eyed, she tentatively held it in her hand - wincing at the ice cold temperature that stung her palm. Curiously she took a sip, and marveled at its perfect carbonated sweetness. He chuckled with a fond smile as he watched her take small delighted sips from her drink.

He paused from sipping on his own bottle when a dainty hand slipped into his. He turned to his sister as she, somewhat comically, presented her bottle to him and showing its year of manufacture.

1923.

Nearly 521 years ago and yet, the drink was as fresh as newborn snow.

He merely smiled mysteriously and said, "We have a lot to talk about, sis, but it can wait. We can go home first."

Looking back at the date of manufacture once more, his sister shook her head.

"I'm sure it would be quite the story."

**-()-**

She was right. It _was_ quite the story. It was after a few hours that the both of them gathered in the living room and he began to tell her his story. From the start to finish, all the good and the bad, the highest he had soared and the lowest that he fell, he never hid it from her. He told her of the story of one who had been followed by countless followers. He told her of the story of a Victorious King - an Immortal Emperor. He told her of all that he lost and all that he gained. He spun her a tale worthy of legend, of a war between humans and the god that would end them all.

All in all, his sister took it quite well. She had listened to him with a serious expression never mocking him or laughing saying that it was all a delusion. She gasped at surprising points, laughed with him as he recalled his family's antics, cried with him as he shared his distress, his sadness, and then his grief.

It was a fantastical story that only a fool would believe was real, but his sister would never doubt him. They would never lie to the other and thus decided that whatever they told the other would be the truth.

At the end of it all, he was embraced in his sister's warm comfort. Soothing his frayed and tattered heart and consoling him of his loss. She may not have known of his comrades, but the feeling of grief that her brother felt was surely not a lie, and thus, it would not matter that she had never met them.

He was crying, she would comfort him. That was all there was to it.

He heard her yawn and realized that she must be feeling tired from processing all the revelations they had that day. His sister had just been released from the hospital after waking from a five year long nap and her system must not have recovered completely. Swiftly, he took her into his arms and carried her into her room. He gently laid her into her new tinkertech bed made to maximize her comfort and provide her with the best rest she could ever get. Turning to leave, he felt her hold on to his sleeve and saw her peeking at him through half-closed eyes.

"Sleep with me."

With surprising strength, she pulled him into her arms and laid her head upon his chest. Astonished at such an abrupt maneuver, all he could do was goggle at what was once a demure young lady. Pulling him closer with one arm and the with other covering them with a blanket, she then settled beneath the crook of his neck and whispered into his ear:

"We have had a long day. You are grieving, with a loss too big for me to fully understand and I have not felt your warmth for five years. Stay beside me. Grieve, and I will comfort you in my embrace. Lay with me, and allow me to feel that which I have missed for five long years."

Saying her piece, she then succumbed to the pull of Hypnos and entered the land of dreams, leaving him to think of what she said. He laid there in the dark, knowing that he would not need to sleep. It was something that had become a privilege, not a need for his undying body. He laid there, cocooned in his sister's warmth with a thousand thoughts running in his head.

He meditated, trying to control his thoughts, tried to plan for a future that he now had with his sister, but all he could think of was the past. All his mind could recall were the faces of the dead.

The faces of those he had failed. The true Kings and Queens of his Empire. His friends, his comrades, his daughters and sons.

_"You seem like a person with a plan. How about this? I will follow you, I will obey your commands and give you my eternal loyalty. In exchange, show me... show me a future worth living for."_

_"I will follow you, because in this godforsaken world, you shine with a light that lets me believe that there is something... something worth it in this despair-ridden reality. I-I want that. I want to find that something! I follow you because I don't want to die forgotten in a world without life! I... I, want to live!"_

_"Oi, old man! Get up! Don't just lie there, you lazy bum. There are some people who want to meet you!"_

_"Stay strong. You have to stay strong! You cannot show weakness. You cannot show despair. You cannot show how broken you really are! You need to stand strong! In this world where hopelessness lies in every heart, you are there Symbol of Hope! Despair where there is no hope... that would simply not be allowed! You are our Hero, are you not?"_

_"Is this... what it's like to have a family? Hey, old man. Thank you, for being my father."_

_"I never did understand why knights and peasants used to follow royalty. But now... Hehehe. Good or Evil, right or wrong... it never mattered to you, did it? You grieve, you weep but you never regret. You live your life so much more vividly that we, who surround you, could not help but be mesmerized. Maybe that's why we admire you so much? That's why, before we set out for the world, let me say it now. I am with you, always. Through life and death, I will follow you... My Emperor."_

_"Hit me, crush me, beat me, cut me, drown me, kill me, it would not matter! I am the Emperor's Guard! I am my Father's Daughter! I will not bow, nor will I break! My Father's Will is behind me, so come! All of you! Test your might against mine and break before my blade!"_

_"Father... have I done well... ? Have I... served you well? ... I did? Ehehehe... that's great... Ne, Papa... I'm tired, so, I'll sleep for a bit... okay?"_

He felt his heart break with every face that passed through his memories, vivid and fresh as the day they were made. He cried. He sobbed. He buried his face upon his sister's - the sister he had done everything for - hair and wept for what once was, what could be, and he endured. These memories, they were all that remained of his family in another world. This was the only proof that they had existed and that the adventures they had gone through was not a dream - that it was not a lie.

Though these memories may hurt, he will hold on to them. He will immortalize them. He would not dare think of them as a burden. For those who will not be able to experience this peaceful world, he will carry their dreams and their hopes and live this one and only life for them.

He felt a shift in his soul and felt the phantom sensation of arms wrapping around his form.

**[UNION][ETERNITY]**

Softly, he thanked his **[SHARD]** and buried himself further into the warmth of his most precious treasure. He sent his appreciation through the bond of **[SHARD]** and** [HOST]** as it renewed it resolution.

Together, Forever. They were one, and it was them against the world.

That night, the world's strongest Parahuman wept and mourned for loved ones lost, fondly remembering the good times and the bad, even as he lovingly embraced the recovered form of his sister.

**-()-**

Amethyst eyes opened into a room where she was the only occupant. Sitting up on the soft, heavenly bed that was gifted unto her by her brother, pale pink lips frowned just as rosy cheeks puffed out in a pout. She looked about her room trying to find her wayward brother, as she had distinctly remembered going to sleep with him beside her last night.

Where was he?

Rubbing the sleep away from her eyes, she finally decided to get out of bed. Setting her feet upon warm, plush carpeting - _since when did she have carpeting in her room?_ \- and went aboutn finding her missing brother. She first checked if he had gone back to his room but it was bare of his presence, next she checked in the bathroom and found no one. She then went to the toilet and still, her brother was not there. Walking over to the living room, still amounted the same result, but it was when she checked the kitchen that she found a surprise waiting for her.

Golden, glistening yolks sat upon wide fields of white sat next to a scrambled set mixed with melting, fragrant, scrumptuous cheese. Crisp, juicy rashes of bacon cooked to a perfect red looked delectable next to crispy, golden hash browns; their fragrant aroma sending her stomach into a rumble. Perfectly buttered toast, just in the manner she liked it waited patiently for her on a plate with a cup of latte steamed hot. If she had ever doubted her brother's story of being sent into an alternate dimension, then this would surely clear her doubts.

After all, from what she last remembered of her dearly beloved brother, he was a _Disaster_ in the kitchen! Approaching the table, she saw a note set before her cup of latte - _It even had one of those 'milk art'! Since when was her brother a Barista?_ \- and picked it up.

_'Sis, I'll be going out for awhile and I won't be back until sometime before dinner. I just got to run some errands and to get some funds. I know that you have been wanting to move out of here for a while, so this is me helping you with that. Anyway, I cooked you some breakfast so go ahead and eat it. Tell me what you think of it later. I also left some books on the coffee table. ... Sis, I know that its been five years since you've been gone to school, and I know you enough to understand that you don't want to go back to highschool so I will be arranging it so that you can take your graduation test from your previous school. After that, well... you can do as you want! Anyway, this notes getting too long. I'll be going now, sis. Take care. Love you!_

_-Your Dearly Beloved Brother'_

Giddiness soared in her heart as she excitedly smiled to herself. Their dreams were finally coming true! First, she had been cured from the injuries she had suffered when she had protected her brother all those years ago, and now that she was finally of age, they don't need to keep on moving according to their uncaring relative's whims! They were getting a new house, and she didn't have to go to school anymore!

... All it took was for her brother to be essantially kidnapped by an eldritch abomination and then sent to what was probably one of the bloodies warzones in creation. Her smile slipped from her face as she sighed. She knew her brother suffered much and it was made much more evident last night as he grieved for lost friends. She sent a silent prayer to those who had followed her brother and thanked them for keeping him safe. Guiltily, she thought that it was better that they had died. She knew it was quite a callous statement, but that was fine. She would readily sacrifice an uncountable number of worlds if it meant that her brother would return to her, scarred or otherwise.

Once more, she sighed and then began to tear into her breakfast; relishing in their exquisite taste. She resolved herself to study all her missed materials and finally earn that diploma that more than a year late. Feeling that the apartment was a bit too silent for her taste, Tsuyoru Chifuyu picked up the remote and turned to the news channel.

From the TV, one of the most iconic men of the era laughed and announced, **"I am Here!"**


End file.
